} The Blues Makers is Samuel Charters's monumental study of the blues, its makers, and the environment from which they merged. IT was originally published in two separate volumes, The Bluesmen and Sweet as the Showers of Rain, and for a long time languished out of print. Now, with the addition of a new preface and a new chapter on Robert Johnson which reconsiders his life and art based n recently uncovered information, The Blues Makers takes its rightful place as one of the greatest blues books of all time.Samuel Charters has long been considered a leading authority on the blues, and here he explores the personal, social, and musical backgrounds of the great blues makers. Charters proceeds from Mississippi, through Alabama and Texas, Memphis and Atlanta, to the Atlantic Coast and the Carolinas, stopping on the way to examine the music and lives of native blues makers such as Skip James, Furry Lewis, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Memphis Minnie, Willie McTell, Tommy Johnson, Ishman Bracey, Son House, The Memphis Jug Band, Charley Patton, and many others. In a style remarkable for both its clarity and its beauty, Charters analyzes these men and their work, using musical and textual examples and extraordinary documentary photographs. The result is simply one of the most remarkable books ever written on the blues. }